2009 National Volunteer conference
July 30 - August 2, 2009
Kansas City, Mo
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Meet our Guest Speakers...
Candy Whirley Kicks off the Opening Ceremony!
Get ready for a roller coaster ride without having to leave the hotel. We will kick off the 2009 National Volunteer conference with this high energy presentation from the author of it takes 4 to Tango and ordinary Women Extraordinary Results as she works with us to help us set a foundation of how we can work best together over the course of the weekend.
Candy is a dynamic speaker dedicated to sharing over 20 years of her professional expertise to help professionals improve their job performance and achieve their personal goals. She brings a wealth of experience from many industries including: training, retail, customer service (certified by International Customer Service Association - ICSA), restaurant, entertainment, management, and youth ministry. Candy is involved in the National Association of Women Business Owners.
A Few of Candy’s Clients include:
Turner Broadcasting Systems, Wal-Mart, General Electric, Blockbuster Video, Hallmark Cards, Inc, Great Wolf Lodge, Society of Human Resource Management of Great Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas SHRM, University of Texas Medical Branch, American Century Investments, Elkay Manufacturing, Johns Hopkins Medical Center, Clemson University, U.S. Army, Federal Aviation Administration, Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, Bracco Pharmaceuticals, and Community America Credit Union.
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Adelaide Schaeffer kicks off the
closing Banquet!
Adelaide Schaeffer is the Executive Director and Founder of Champions for Kids. Her deep concern about the escalating challenges and needs facing children, coupled with diminishing resources necessary to help kids live healthy and hopeful lives, moved Adelaide and her husband, Rick, to launch Champions for Kids in 2003. Champions for Kids is an organization focused on strengthening nonprofits to better serve MORE kids.
While the stroke of a pen can pass welfare and government policies that can effect vast numbers of youth on a global scale, government policy alone can never provide what kids need most: a caring arm around their shoulder and people who surround and support them on a daily basis. A primary key to getting kids the help they need and deserve is to organize and mobilize communities to build the networks of care and support that kids really need, and deserve. Community organizing—nonprofits working hand in hand with faith based organizations, government agencies, civic and neighborhood associations and community citizens—is a primary strategy that Champions for Kids is focused on developing in communities locally and nationally. This is the strategy that can really effect change.
Adelaide received her undergraduate degree at the University of Arkansas. Adelaide did post graduate studies in theology and public life at Indiana University and Notre Dame. She completed a master’s degree in theology at Emory University in Atlanta with an interest in the intersection of faith in public life. After Emory, Adelaide completed another masters degree in theology from Boston College with an emphasis in education and spiritual formation. She attended Harvard University as a Resident Graduate where she became deeply engaged in the area of community organizing at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Adelaide has always been interested in how communities come together to effect social change.
Adelaide and her husband, Rick, have been married for 25 years and reside in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with their adorable 13 year old son, Ben. Adelaide is an avid reader and runner, running 75-80 miles per week. She and her husband have provided a home to many youth in need of care and support. They have celebrated the achievements and victories of many youth who have overcome great odds in their lives. They know firsthand how critical it is to provide care, hope, support and encouragement to youth who are often so very alone in their life journeys.
Adelaide is currently enrolled in the Masters in Public Administration program at Harvard Kennedy School of Government. The intense program is designed to increase the knowledge and skills of well established, high-performing professionals, who seek to enhance their public service careers. Not surprisingly, the program includes some of the most accomplished students. They represent many professional backgrounds and come from across the United States and around the world. Adelaide is using this great hands-on opportunity to directly effect and enhance the mission of Champions for Kids.